"She's a menace."

"She saved my life."

"That was an accident."

"Oh sure, so she just happened to catch me before I fell?"

"She was making a getaway, and you were in the way, as always."

I rolled my eyes and turned around. It has been a week since the Black Widow saved my life, and my brother is just now letting me touch him. Every night since that night, I've been going out to the place she saved me, waiting. Wishing that I could see her again. The city thinks she is a menace. And to a some extent, I agree. She isn't a hero, isn't a villain. She just makes our lives.....complicated. There have been disappearances traced back to her, but half the people always return, eyes wide in fear, still slightly paralyzed. Sometimes, Main Street will be covered in webs, completely blocked off. Those who wander too close to her home, never come back. I waited for Dean and Mom to go to sleep, then slipped out. I grabbed my jacket on the way. I made the familiar trek to the top of the garage building and sat near the edge like I did every night. I sat there and waited, watching the town. At the first sight of dawn, I went back home and fell right asleep. I think mom knows what I do every night, because she lets me sleep in. I went out the next night. And the next. And the next. Every night for another two weeks.

"This is the last time," I told myself as I made my way up to the top of the parking garage. "If she doesn't come, then I forget the whole thing." I sat down and waited. After a while, I checked my watch. Twelve thirty. I sighed and got up to move closer to the edge. I wanted to look at the city. Before I could reach the edge, though, webs shot out of nowhere and wrapped around me like a cocoon. With a thwip, all the blood rushed to my head and I was hanging upside down from a lamp post on the parking garage. Next to me stood the Black Widow. I let out a yelp and swung back and forth in my web swing. Black Widow reached out a hand and I cringed away from it. A look of hurt flashed across her red eyes but disappeared immediately. She pulled her hand away slowly.

"Every night for almost three weeks." She said, her voice soft. She studied my face through the mask she wore. The mask was black and it covered only her eyes. It was brilliantly designed, though. It stuck to her face with no string or latches. It looked like a web, but was still solid enough to cover the area around her eyes. I didn't say anything. "I've been here. Every night. I've seen you. Watching. Waiting. I just didn't know how to say hello." She said.

"Well," I began, my voice shaking slightly, "webbing me for no reason and tying me to a pole works." Black Widow studied me carefully before allowing a slight smirk.

"Yeah, well I'm no hero." She said. She turned her back to me when she saw me looking at the hourglass shaped mark on her chest. Her long black hair was smooth and silky. It moved flawlessly when she turned.

"I dunno," I said. She glanced back at me. "I think you would make a pretty good Spider-Man." Suddenly, she was on top of the lamp post, hanging upside down with me. Her perfect face was so close. She reached out a hand and her finger tips brushed my forehead. I flinched away.

"You're gonna wish I was like Spider-Man." She cooed. She looked at her own gloved hands. "They say I can kill a person with a single touch." She paused to look back up at me. "But that's not all. I can also paralyze them, freeze them, poison them, knock them out, make them see their worst fear, make them go blind, the list goes on and on. Yet, here you are. Three consecutive weeks of coming to the same place. And for what?" She asked. I didn't quite know, to be honest. I didn't say anything at first. We just looked at each other. Suddenly, sirens went off and police cruisers circled the building below us.

"WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" The police shouted. Black Widow let her head drop slightly and turned away. She walked to the very edge of the parking garage.

"I could just jump off and run away. The authorities would find you, but I would be in the clear. But, I also feel as if I can't jump. I can't run." She said. She turned around so fast I let out a yelp. Black Widow cringed. She carefully let me out of the web cocoon. My legs were unsteady and my head was pounding as all the blood rushed back to the rest of my body. I turned to look at Black Widow. She looked sad.

"I'm tired of running. I want to be good, I really do, but I can't!" She said. I moved forward to touch her but she fell to her knees. She put her head in between her knees. It suddenly came to my attention the sound of police officers running up the stairs. I crouched down next to her.

"Then don't run. Let them take you in. We'll get your name cleared! I'll vouch for you!" I said. Black Widow shook her head.

"Th-they won't let me." She said. She was shaking. I didn't know what to do.

"They as in the police?" I asked. Black Widow shook her head. Suddenly, the police were on the top floor. They weren't police. They were the S.W.A.T. team. They pushed me out of the way when I tried to protect Black Widow. I went sprawling on the concrete. My face and hands were scratched, but I forced myself to my knees. Then, all at once, Black Widow had jumped to her feet. Her red eyes were glowing. The mark on her chest was glowing as well. I shouted a warning to the soldiers, but they advanced anyway. Webs shot out of the heel of Black Widow's hands. The soldier's guns were thrown off the edge of the building where they broke apart with loud clashes on the ground so dizzyingly far below. Black Widow moved so fast, her movements like lightning. She grabbed one guard by the arm and he went slack. She flung him at one of the others, touching their temple in the process. They guard she had touched the temple of began screaming, running around, swatting around his head. She made her way through the platoon of S.W.A.T. members so fast I could hardly see her. Finally, all the soldiers were either paralyzed, running around screaming, stumbled along unseeingly, knocked out on the floor, or retching up nothing, rolling around groaning, except for one. Black Widow grabbed him and he flinched, but nothing happened.

"Under the jurisdiction of the government of the United States of America, we order you to, uh, lay down your weapons and, um, come quietly." The soldier said, stumbling over his words. I cringed for him. That was the wrong thing to say. Black Widow flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked the soldier in the eyes. The soldier gulped.

"So now the government's after me? Isn't this a local problem?" She cooed silently. I began to edge away, fear kicking in as it came to my realization what was going on. Full grown men, members of the S.W.A.T. team, were at the mercy of the Black Widow. The man closest to me let out another terrified cry and flung himself to the ground. I let out a strangled cry as he fell dangerously close to the edge, almost half of his body hanging over the edge. I moved to pul him back onto flat ground, but webs pinned me down. I struggled against them, but they were extremely strong. I looked at Black Widow, who still had her attention on the S.W.A.T. member.

"The s-safety of the c-citizens of America is the top priority of this country's g-government." He replied, his eyes drifting from me to his comrades before he seemed to force himself to look back at Black Widow. She let out a slight laugh. A mocking laugh.

"So they hired the S.W.A.T. team. How funny! Ha! Let's get the S.W.A.T. team to care of a itsy bitsy spider, yeah? What are they? Arachnophobes? Scared they're gonna get bit?" She laughed, her grip around his neck tightening. I struggled against the webs.

"Widow!" I cried. Her head snapped towards me. I flinched at the intensity of her gaze. "Please. Let me go. Let them go. You're killing them. Please. It's okay! He isn't going to take you in." I said with a pointed look at the soldier. The soldier shook his head.

"We will give you one more chance if you let us go." He said. Black Widow's grip tightened before she went slack and fell over backwards. The webs around me loosened and I tore them away to run to her side. The soldier she had been talking to was swaying back and forth. His eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the floor. I felt his pulse. Dead. I bit my tongue. All the other soldiers were no longer running around or screaming or anything. They were all unconscious on the ground. I went back to Black Widow. She was stirring, moaning slightly. I moved to touch her and she jumped to life. I let out a yelp and fell over backwards. She didn't attack though. Her eyes were no longer glowing, just their normal red color. She looked around her. Her eyes drifted from soldier to soldier until her eyes filled with rage and she sprung to her feet. She let out an anguished cry and webbed the nearest neon billboard. With one swift yank, she ripped the sign in half, electricity and rubble flying everywhere, smoke rising into the air. She launched the half into the air then webbed it the nearest building, where it stayed, blinking faintly until it died. Black Widow ran her fingers through her hair, frustrated. She stomped her foot and collapsed on the floor again. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to see her go off in a rage, so at first, I didn't say anything. When she looked at me again, though, I noticed that her face was pale, sunken in. She looked sick.

"Uh, Black Widow? Are you okay? You aren't sick, are you?" I asked. She got to her feet, rubbing her mask. She looked at me sadly.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I'm sorry that you had to be anywhere near me. I let you go. Just this once. They told me I have to bring back the witnesses that I talk to. So I try not to talk. But, I'll let you go. Just, be careful, okay? Cause they might come looking for you." I looked at her a minute before I said anything.

"Who might come looking for me?" I questioned, my voice lacking emotion. She shook her head.

"Just promise me." She insisted. I nodded curtly and she immediately ran off. Not having anything better to do, I went back home and slipped into bed. I didn't think I would be able to sleep after what I had just witnessed, but the minute my hit the pillow, I was asleep. Right before I slipped into my subconscious, I realized that she hadn't answered any of my questions. And I'm not one to let something like that slide.